Cebeline
An old deity, worshipped in Bern before the introduction and subsequent conversion of the region to Woo over 600 years ago. Even by 1314, the year the Medieval roleplay takes place, she is mostly forgotten, having been accidentally killed in 1266 on the indirect orders of Grand Duke Lachlan Stallion Forms Cebeline had two distinct forms, an active form in which she could use her time powers and a passive form in which she lay dormant and conserved energy. Her passive form was tied very closely to her shrine. When dormant, Cebeline lived in a small indeterminate tree whose appearance was vaguely humanoid. The "roots" could easily be seen as looking like legs and fingers while the arms hugged close to the trunk of the tree. The branches of the tree erupted from the "head". On those branches were spring flowers, mature summer leaves, crimson autumn leaves and the snows of winter simultaneously. The tree was, in essense, her body. It rested on an enormous boulder surrounded by various other boulders containing carvings representing the four seasons. This place was known as Cebeline's shrine. Here it should be noted that it is on the basis of this shrine that all subsequent shrines and altars to her were based on. The tree itself had no real defences but animals did not dare graze on it and humans did not dare approach it. When required, Cebeline could easily exit her tree and assume her active form. In this form she was vulnerable but she could not be killed as long as her tree was fine. This particular form was very similar to the tree itself but whereas the tree only appeared vaguely human, this one was unmistakably a human-like tree. In shape, it was closest to a female human, hence the pronoun, though the deity is genderless. The roots became legs and arms with long fingers detatched themselves from the trunk. The branches, still displaying all four seasons at once, were often folded over the body to look like a cloak or long hair and she often walked on the tips of her two leg-like roots. Most striking were the two glowing golden eyes that opened in the head. In the darkness, this form was also said to emit light, the sort of soft dappled light that streams in through a forest canopy. Worship The influence of Cebeline over ancient Bern could not be underestimated. She was revered as a deity of seasons, which in a place with such harsh winters meant everything. However, realising this, she used her powers to exploit the people of the land for all they were worth. Constant demands of food in the form of offerings from each village sated her hunger, but if her overall hunger was not sated, she would extend the winter for all. When this happened, people sacrificed children to her. The deity was not picky about what kind of children she took so it was used an excuse to get rid of "undesirable" children, either those who were suspected of being changelings, those with physical or mental disabilities or simply children who were not wanted by their parents for one reason or another. This child would be taken deep into the woods by a Priest, placed on a special altar stone and then have their throat slit, which was better than the child than the alternative: a rapid death by aging at Cebeline's hands. Every clan had different traditions in regards to her sacrifice and different ways of treating those who had to deliver those sacrifices to her. Cebeline, however, was indifferent to that. She did not care what happened as long as her food was given to her on time. Fics Cebeline, being a posthumous character and a god, has not appeared in many fics, but the ones in which she did have a presense are listed below: * "Little Girls and Old Gods"- 600s. Cebeline appears at the very end to recieve her sacrifice in return for changing the seasons. * "The Bringer of Spring- Part 11"- April 734, Cebeline appears to claim what is hers, whether Absolon wishes it or not. * "The Bringer of Spring- Part 22"- April 735. Cebeline and Absolon face off. during which she breaks his blocks and he manages to defeat her. * "The Bringer of Spring- Epilogue"- March 752. Absolon finally seals Cebeline inside her tree so that she might never harm the people of Bern again. And there she stays until... * "Last Visit of a Forgotten One"- September 27th, 1266. The now-dying Cebeline appears before Alain and Ambrose in an attempt to curse them for their father's orders to kill her. Alain wakes to see her die. Powers Cebeline was a nature being revered in Bern as the deity of time and in particular, the seasons. She posessed the power to control and manipulate the flow of time as she chose, capable of speeding it up, slowing it down, reversing its course, travelling in time or stopping it entirely. The range of such abilities could be extended out from individual objects to enormous areas. This power was most commonly seen applied to the passing of the seasons. By her time powers, she could also know the future and the past by peering into them. Because of these powers, it is unknown how old she truly is, though the belief was that she was an abyss of time. When she died, her powers were weakened but they were transferred to Ambrose Stallion, and to a lesser extent, Alain Stallion. For a description of Ambrose's powers, see Ambrose Stallion#Magic.Category:Gods Category:Non-game characters Category:Medieval